It's Museum Day, Choo Choo!

This weekend was Smithsonian Media's annual Museum Day, and it was the first time I had participated. Museum Day is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian Media in which participating museums across the country open their doors for free to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket, each ticket worth admission for two. Here in South Florida, that includes places like Miami Metrozoo and, where I went this weekend, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum.

I had first heard of this museum when I was looking into venues for my wedding. I was looking for someplace unique and reasonably priced. I visited the website, but it didn't seem like the place I envisioned for my wedding; so I never really got to see it. But with the free museum admission, I figured why not? I called up my stepmother Janet, and Nicolas and I joined her and my siblings (sister age 6 and twin brothers age 5) for a trip down south. The museum itself is reasonably priced (adults $6, children under 12 are $4, children 2 and under are FREE), and every 1st Saturday of the month there is free admission for everyone. With each of us using our Museum Day tickets, my stepmother and I were able to get our party of 6 into the museum for $4.00 total --- Nicolas was free, so we only had to pay for one of the kids.

This museum is great for kids, especially if your kid is going through a Thomas the Train phase. My sister and brothers were blown away by the giant trains on display which are available for visitors to walk through. Who am I kidding, I was amazed! Between walking through the massive trains to the hourly train/trolley rides (available at an additional cost), the railroad museum is a fantastic way to teach your kids about trains of the past. No extra money to do the train rides? Then visit the model train room where kids can spend the rest of the afternoon building trains on a number of train sets, available at NO extra cost. 

A few additional things I that stuck in my memory.....

1. Although the trains are covered by a big garage, the museum is mostly outdoors; so if we are having a typical Miami summer, the rain could put a damper on your plans.
2. Outside food is allowed! We packed up some snacks and juice packs that we could enjoy at the picnic tables there while Nicolas had a feeding. The museum also has a couple of vending machines with drinks and snacks.
3. There are restrooms that are very accessible, but I did not use them so I can't comment on their condition.
4. For people with babies.... there is no stroller parking at this place, but the parking spaces give you adequate space to unload your child without struggling. And oddly enough, to enter the museum you must go up a set of stairs. We couldn't find a ramp and had to carry Nicolas' stroller up the steps. I wonder how a person in a wheelchair gets into this place. Once inside, there are no issues --- plenty of space and even a ramp to get to the displays.
5. Again for people taking children in strollers... Your stroller will not fit inside the trains, so if you plan on walking with your child through the trains on display you will have to leave the stroller unattended or have someone hang back with it. I didn't see enough staff around to make me comfortable enough to just leave my stroller around, so we pretty much alternated who would stay with Nicolas in the stroller while the other person took the kids through the trains.

 Some of the trains on display

Model train room and kids activity center

 "I can't wait to come here when I'm bigger Mommy!"

I plan on going back with my husband for one of the Saturdays where free admission is offered to see how packed the place gets. Maybe it will be pretty empty like this weekend, or maybe it will be too packed to enjoy the exhibits. The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is located at 12450 S.W. 152 Street, adjacent to MetroZoo. For additional information, check out their website.